A synthetic chemical developed as an alternative to the controversial chemical bisphenol A (BPA), and now widely used in many products, also disrupts human development at low doses, according to a new study. Created after research indicated potential health risks associated with BPA — a component of polycarbonate plastics found in everything from plastic bottles to cash register receipts — bisphenol S (BPS) was found in the study to disrupt cellular responses to the hormone estrogen, altering biochemical pathways that affect cell growth and hormone release, according to researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. And like BPA, BPS triggers these effects at extremely low doses, the researchers found. According to Cheryl Watson, a UTMB professor and lead author of the study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, BPS is active at doses in the range of parts per trillion or quadrillion. “Those are levels likely to be produced by BPS leaching from containers into their contents,” she said. A 2012 study found human exposure to BPS is widespread in the U.S., Japan, China, and five other nations.